The One Big, Beautiful Bill Act passed recently.
It’s not the complete defunding of Planned Parenthood that pro-lifers have sought for decades.
The original House bill defunded Planned Parenthood for 10 years, the maximum allowed. The Senate version, which passed, cuts taxpayer funding for just one year.
This means the possibility of future de-funding will have to be brought up and voted on again each year.
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Planned Parenthood’s 2023-24 report cited $792.2 million dollars in U.S. taxpayer funding for the abortion provider, an increase of $93.2 million over the $699 million they received the previous year.
Major pro-life and family groups are voicing their disappointment at how the plea for permanent defunding of Planned Parenthood became drastically minimized.
Katie Brown Xavios, national director of American Life League, mourned the news in a press statement.
“A one-year defunding of Planned Parenthood is no victory; it’s a disheartening concession,” Xavios said. “It’s like allowing a criminal to temporarily pause violent acts, knowing they’ll resume soon.”
“While any taxpayer money diverted away from Planned Parenthood is a good thing, defunding our nation's largest abortion provider for just one year is not the win many of us who believe abortion is abhorrent wanted it to be,” said pro-life activist Abby Johnson.
“A year is enough time for many Planned Parenthood facilities to hold out to be re-funded,” Johnson said. “Some will close but Planned Parenthood as an organization has millions of dollars, wealthy donors, and could support those clinics if they choose.”
Others were more tempered in their response.
Laura Echevarria, director of Communications and press secretary for the National Right to Life Committee, explained to Pregnancy Help News that the bill was still significant and defunding being considered for approval yearly was similar to how the Hyde Amendment was handled.
“This is still a historic victory because, despite repeated attempts to permanently defund Planned Parenthood over the years, we’ve been short on the votes or have had a pro-abortion White House,” Echevarria said. “With this legislation, we have finally succeeded in cutting funding and, just like the Hyde Amendment which has to be reauthorized every year, we will be ready to do the work to see defunding in future budgets.”
Students for life President Kristan Hawkins pointed out the persistence and vigilance it has taken to achieve just the one-year defunding.
“The win is shared by those who have tirelessly engaged in calling on the Republican leadership to act,” said Hawkins in a statement. “We wouldn’t have even one-year less in federal support for abortion vendors without the tireless efforts of so many who door knocked, called, and voted their pro-life values.”
Losing no time, Planned Parenthood immediately sued for a temporary halt to the defunding. The abortion giant sought out Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama appointee of the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, to put the law on hold for 14 days. Talwani issued a temporary restraining order and also ordered the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to file any opposition to a longer-lasting injunction by July 14, according to Reuters.
HHS condemned Talwani’s decision in a memorandum in opposition that same day.
“Simply put, Planned Parenthood has no right to taxpayer money, and this Court should not invent such a right,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote in the memo. “The Court should uphold Congress’s lawful exercise of its authority to decide to whom it will entrust taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars.”
Talwani then put a preliminary injunction in place against a provision of the One Big Beautiful Bill that defunded abortion providers on July 21.
Meanwhile, life affirming pregnancy centers receive zero taxpayer funding on the whole and must spend time and effort continually fundraising to provide women in need resources, such as pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, diapers, clothing, infant car seats, furniture, and more to give them a true choice.
Tweet This: Pregnancy help centers receive no taxpayer funding and spend time and effort continually fundraising to provide for women in need.
